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Vail Christian boys basketball gets win

Chris Freud
Vail, CO Colorado
Daily file photoWill Parker (11) and Vail Christian boys basketball got their first win of the week last weekend against Arrupe Jesuit,
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PARKER, Colorado ” The Vail Christian boys basketball team is in the win column for 2008-09 and eagerly awaiting its home opener Saturday in its new gym.

The Saints knocked off Arrupe Christian, 45-37, in the first round of the Lutheran Parker Tournament in Parker last week to start the season 1-2.

Chris Schmidt led Vail Christian with 15 points, while A.J. Burgess had 12 in the win against the Generals.



“It was nice to get the win,” Saints coach Sheldon Kuhns said “We’re still trying to find our identity without Jaryd (Francis, Class of 2008). We were using these games to get on the same page.”

The Saints nearly had another win earlier in the week in a tough 53-51 overtime loss at Hayden. The host Tigers not only sent the game into overtime with a bucket at the buzzer, but repeated the trick for the win.

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The Saints will get another shot at Hayden Feb. 7 in Edwards in the 2A Slope game between the two schools. While Vail Christian no doubt looks forward to that, the loss showed that the Saints should be competitive in their first year at 2A.

In the tournament final in Parker, Vail Christian fell to Lutheran Parker, 41-24.

“It wasn’t a bad game. It was a defensive struggle,” Kuhns said. “It was Big 10-type football. The score was 13-12 at halftime.”

And since Saints football always goes for two since it usually doesn’t have a kicker, well, never mind.

Vail Christian heads to West Grand Friday before hosting Soroco Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in its new digs.

Hockey tops Aspen

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colorado ” It’s definitely a new season on the ice when Battle Mountain and Aspen hockey met in the Mountain Tournament last weekend and both teams were 0-2.

The Huskies topped the Skiers, 2-1, on two Geoff Funk goals to get their first win of the season.

“We’re where we expected to be,” Huskies coach Gary Defina said. “We’ve been stressing team defense and we struggled with it, and it cost us in the first two games of the tournament. Everybody realized it and it made all the difference against Aspen.”

Battle Mountain fell in the season opener to Summit County, 4-3. The Huskies got goals from Mitch Lammert, Connor Tedstrom and Jack Sunderland, but the team couldn’t overcome defensive rough patches.

Against the hosts, Battle Mountain bowed, 4-0, to Steamboat Springs. The Sailors ended up being the surprise of the tourney at 3-0. Battle Mountain and Steamboat will meet again Jan. 19 at Dobson in Peaks Conference play.

Before that, the Huskies are at Kent Denver Friday night and have their home opener Saturday at 6 p.m. against Peak to Peak.

Huskies girls hoops show improvement

BUENA VISTA, Colorado ” Battle Mountain girls basketball started the season 0-3 against some tough competition, but coach Andrew Schmid is pleased with what he’s seeing.

The Huskies lost their home opener to Evergreen and then fell to both Buena Vista and Pagosa Springs.

“We found out what we need to improve upon,” Schmid said. “That’s the upside of preseason. We’re improving and making adjustments with every game.”

Battle Mountain is at the Fruita Monument Tournament starting Thursday.

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 748-2934 or cfreud@vaildaily.com.


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